Heavenly Springs

Holding Fast The Doctrines of Grace

God Can Make Wicked People’s Actions Work To His Own Glory

by

Photo compliments of the J.C. Ryle Photo Collection.
Photo compliments of the J.C. Ryle Photo Collection.

“The very things that have seemed most unfavorable to God’s people have often turned out to be for their good.

What harm did the persecution do to the church of Christ after Stephen’s death? Those who were scattered “preached the word wherever they went” (Acts 8:4).

What harm did imprisonment do St. Paul? It gave him time to write many of those letters which are now read all over the world.

What real harm did the persecution of bloody Mary do to the cause of the English Reformation? The blood of the martyrs became the seed of the church.

What harm does persecution do the people of God at this very day? It only drives them nearer to Christ: it only makes them cling more closely to the throne of grace, the Bible, and prayer.

Let all true Christians lay these things to heart, and take courage. We live in a world where all things are ordered by a hand of perfect wisdom, and where in all things God works for the good of those who love him (Romans 8:28). The powers of this world are only tools in the hand of God: he is always using them for his own purposes, however little they may be aware of it. They are the instruments by which he is forever cutting and polishing the living stones of his spiritual temple, and all their schemes and plans will only turn to his praise. Let us be patient in days of trouble and darkness, and look forward. The very things which now seem against us are all working together for God’s glory. We only see half now: a little while longer, we shall see all; and we shall then discover that all the persecution we now endure was, like “the seal” and “the guard” (verse 66), tending to God’s glory. God can make the “wrath of man praise him” (Psalm 77:10, KJV).”

Ryle, J. C. (1993). Matthew. Crossway Classic Commentaries (287–288). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books.

The Mystery Of Iniquity

by

“The mystery of iniquity is at work in the world during this interim time, and it is not always clear how its malignant work is being checked, overridden, or woven into the glorious purposes of God. We need to remember, though, that while Judas betrayed Christ, and woe to him for doing so, it was God’s plan that Christ was thus betrayed. Evil by its very nature opposes the purposes of God, but God, in his sovereignty, can make even this evil serve his purposes.”

Wells,David F., (2008). The Courage to Be Protestant. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmas Publishing Co.

Delivered From The Fowlers Snare

by

Listen as Charles Spurgeon explains one of the ways that God will deliver you from Satan’s net.

“Very often by trouble. Trouble is often the means whereby God delivers us from snares.

You have all heard of the old story of the celebrated painter who was painting in St. Paul’s. Looking at his work, one day, he went gradually back, inch by inch, to get a view of it so that he might see the excellence of its proportions—until his feet were just on the edge of the platform upon which he stood. He would have fallen down and been dashed in pieces upon the pavement beneath but just at that moment a workman who stood there, desirous to save his life and not knowing how to do it, hit upon an expedient, which proved to be a very wise one.

Instead of shouting out to his master, “Sir, you are in danger,” which would most certainly have sent him backward, he took up a brush and dipping it in a pot of paint, dashed it at the picture.  The good man rushed forward in anger to chastise him—but when it was explained, he clearly saw that his servant had acted wisely.

Just so with God. You and I have often painted a fine picture and we have been walking backwards admiring it.

God knows that our backsliding will soon end in our destruction. And He, by a sad Providence, blasts our prospect, takes away our child from us, buries our wife, removes some darling object of our pleasures and we rush forward and say, “Lord, why this?”—utterly unconscious that if it had not been for trouble, we might have been dashed in pieces and our lives would have been ended in destruction!

I doubt not that many of you have been saved from ruin by your sorrows, your griefs, your troubles, your woes, your losses and your crosses.

All these have been the breaking of the net that set you free from the snare of the fowler!”

Surely He shall deliver you from the snare of the fowler. (Psalm 91:5)

Charles Spurgeon

Lord of all

by

Among the many things that I am grateful for is the doctrine of God’s sovereignty.  In these days of evil and uncertainty, the sovereignty of God, that is the knowledge that God is absolutely supreme over all things in heaven and on earth is an anchor to my soul.

He is sovereign over global affairs. He is sovereign over the decisions of world leaders.   He is sovereign in my neighborhood, my home, and my church.  In the face of evil and suffering it is the truth of this precious doctrine that we believers can cling to.

Margaret Clarkson, in her book, Grace Grows Best in Winter explains powerfully, “The sovereignty of God is the one impregnable rock to which the suffering human heart must cling. The circumstances surrounding our lives are no accident; they may be the work of evil, but that evil is held firmly within the mighty hand of our sovereign God… All evil is subject to Him, and evil cannot touch His children unless He permits it. God is the Lord of human history and of the personal history of every member of His redeemed family.” (pages 40 and 41)

“Then I heard what seemed to be the voice of a great multitude, like the roar of many waters and like the sound of mighty peals of thunder, crying out, “Hallelujah! For the Lord our God the Almighty reigns.” (Revelation 19:6)